Berne — District marks parents as alleged child abusers for wanting to take their 7-year-old son
off the medication

Like thousands of children, 7-year-old Kyle Carroll
takes Ritalin for a diagnosis of attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. And like thousands of parents, Michael and Jill Carroll worry about the drug's side effects, including sleeplessness and loss of appetite. But they keep their child on the medication, in part because they fear child welfare workers will take him away if they don't.

Earlier this year, administrators from the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school district called Albany
County Child Protective Services, alleging child abuse
when the Carrolls said they wanted to take Kyle off the
drug.
As a result, the Carrolls are now on a statewide list of
alleged child abusers, and they have been thrust into an
Orwellian family court battle to clear their name and to ensure their child isn't removed from their home.
"It's beyond the point of whether he should be on it. Now it's the point of them telling us what we're going to
do,'' said Michael Carroll. "They're telling me how to
raise my child.''

The Carroll's dilemma is not unique. While there are no
reliable statistics on the phenomenon, observers say
public schools are increasingly accusing parents of child
abuse and neglect if they balk at giving their children
medication such as Ritalin, a stimulant being prescribed
to more and more students. According to a recent report from the American
Academy of Pediatrics, as many as 3.8 million school
children, mostly boys, have ADHD. The disorder is
characterized by a short attention span, jumpiness and
impulsive behavior. But many cases are misdiagnosed,
the study found. Additionally, at least a million children
take Ritalin and the use of the drug has risen many times more during the past few years. Along with that increase, schools are using some heavy-handed tactics on parents who may balk at the
medication.

"The schools are now using child protective services to enforce their own desires and their own policies,'' said
David Lansner, a New York City lawyer who has seen cases similar to the Carrolls'. "The parents' authority is
being undermined when people have to do what some
public official wants,'' Lansner added. "This thing is so scary,'' remarked Patricia Weathers, of
Millbrook, a suburb of Poughkeepsie. Officials at the
Millbrook school district called police and child
protective services when she took her 9-year-old son, Michael Mozer, off medications earlier this year. She said a drug cocktail including Ritalin, the anti-depressant
Paxil and Dexedrine, a stimulant like Ritalin, caused her
boy to hallucinate. "My son was a guinea pig,'' said
Weathers, who now sends the child to a private school.

"This is relatively new but it's happening,'' said Peter
Breggin, a Bethesda, Md., psychiatrist, of the school
districts' legal tactics. Breggin is an author who opposes
the use of Ritalin.

Child protective workers with the Albany County
Department of Social Services didn't return phone calls
seeking comment on the subject. And county
spokeswoman Monica Mahaffey said social workers
and others would not publicly discuss such matters. "We're just absolutely not going to comment because of confidentiality,'' she said.

Likewise with officials at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo
school district.

"We feel we are unable to give our side of the story due to confidentiality,'' said district superintendent Steven
Schrade.

"It's a point of view that they have, and we have our
point of view. We feel our side is based on facts,'' said
Schrade, who added, "There's more to it than I can tell
you.''

Schrade noted that schools do not prescribe medication
such as Ritalin. Any drug prescription has to come from
a physician, although school nurses can administer the
drug and school officials can recommend it.

Kyle Carroll started taking Ritalin last year, after he fell
behind in his school work.

"It's hard for him to focus,'' said Jill Carroll.

Teachers drew up an Individualized Education Plan, a
standard course of action for children with special needs,
and they started giving him speech therapy and extra
reading help. He also went to summer school. But last fall, when Kyle started second grade, the Ritalin
and extra help didn't seem to do much good. The
Carrolls grew concerned when Kyle was only sleeping
about five hours a night and eating just one meal a day at
lunchtime. So they told school officials they wanted to
take Kyle off Ritalin for two weeks to see if that helped. That's when they got a call, then a visit, from a Child
Protective Services worker.

The visit led to a family court appearance in April, which
was continued to later this month. The hearing will give
the Carrolls a chance to clear their name -- to some
extent. If cleared, their case in the state register of
alleged abusers will be sealed, but it could be opened in
the future if there are other allegations of abuse. Jill Carroll is particularly concerned because she's
attending Hudson Valley Community College with hopes
of becoming a child care worker. Being in the state register could keep her from working in that field.

Moreover, the Carrolls still don't know all the details of
the charges against them. The "intake report'' on their
case states that "Fa (father) is refusing to give the ch
(child) the Ritalin.''

But several lines on the report are blacked out with a
marking pen. It's roughly analogous to a criminal facing
charges but not being told what they are. (Complaints to
Child Protective Services are also anonymous, so
suspects don't know who has leveled the charges. In this
case, however, the Carrolls say they were told that a
school guidance counselor made the complaint).

Michael Carroll noted this wasn't his first brush with
Child Protective Services. Last year, he said, a social
worker checked on an anonymous rumor that he had
gotten drunk and struck family members, but the
allegations turned out to be groundless. No charges
were filed, and the Carrolls were not "indicated,'' or
written up in the state register like they were for the
Ritalin episode.

Since meeting with the services' workers this year, the
Carrolls have taken their boy to another pediatrician for
a second opinion. The doctor recommended staying with
the Ritalin, and the Carrolls have reluctantly agreed. "He's in school. He's on the Ritalin. He dislikes school
very much,'' Michael Carroll said.

During a recent interview, Kyle had little to say. He
slouched in his seat silently and, when asked if he liked
school, slowly shook his head no. "This is him on
Ritalin,'' Jill Carroll said.

Educators and researchers say Ritalin can indeed
improve a child's concentration but it takes a concerted
effort, with constant reinforcement at school and at
home. "The schools have to do a lot of behavioral things
with the kids,'' said William E. Pelham, a psychology
professor at the State University at Buffalo who has
researched ADHD and Ritalin.

In addition to medication, children with ADHD need
close supervision with well-set daily goals and feedback
such as a point system to reward good behavior. For now, the Carrolls are willing to give Ritalin another
try. But they still object to being targeted as potential
child abusers for taking their boy off the drug.

"The parents made a decision that should have been
theirs to make,'' said Elie Ward, executive director of
Statewide Youth Advocacy, an Albany group that
works on behalf of children.

"This is a classic, perfect example of the overreach of
Child Protective Services,'' added Richard Wexler,
Washington director for the National Coalition for Child
Protection Reform and a former Times Union reporter.
"The parents aren't being neglectful, they are being
cautious.''

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Most psychiatric drugs can cause withdrawal reactions, sometimes including life-threatening emotional and physical withdrawal problems. In short, it is not only dangerous to start taking psychiatric drugs, it can also be dangerous to stop them. Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs should be done carefully under experienced clinical supervision. Methods for safely withdrawing from psychiatric drugs are discussed in Dr. Breggin's new book, Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients, and Their Families.